Overview
- The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission voted on Nov. 11 to cut the coastwide menhaden quota to 170,000 metric tons for 2027 and to 155,000 metric tons for 2028 and to set Chesapeake Bay reduction-fishery caps at 37,123 metric tons for 2027 and 33,847 metric tons for 2028.
- The Bay cap motion passed 14-2 with Virginia opposed and the board also set 51,000 metric tons as the ceiling for the Bay cap going forward while agreeing to revisit the cap every three years.
- About three quarters of the coastwide quota is allocated to Virginia and most of the harvest is carried out by Ocean Harvesters/Omega Protein, a concentration that regulators say motivated tighter Bay limits.
- Virginia officials and industry representatives argued the cuts are premature because there is no current Bay-specific stock assessment and warned the limits could harm workers and local economies.
- Conservation groups and recreational anglers said the new limits do not go far enough, cited local reports of menhaden absences and falling osprey recruitment, and urged rigorous, independent Bay tagging and research now planned for 2027–2028.